Rangers crush Bantam Cards

Late inning woes continue to haunt the Amherstburg Bantam Cardinals, dropping a 15-2 tilt to the Tecumseh Rangers, Friday evening at the United Community Credit Union Complex.

The Bantam Cards allowed 12 runs in the last two inning of the game and allowed 12 errors throughout seven innings.

“We played baseball for five innings. We just lost focus, guys aren’t in baseball mode yet,” said manager Kris Meloche.

A cloud of dust is kicked up as a Tecumseh Rangers runner barely beats Amherstburg pitcher Eric Parker to the plate in the fourth innng.

Eric Parker started the game, keeping the powerful Ranger lineup in check for the better part of four innings.

Tecumseh added a run in the top of the second, only to see their one-run lead evaporate when Derek Matte drove in a run with a RBI double.

The Rangers would retake the lead in the top of the third with an inside the park home run to right center field. The visiting team would get in Parker once again, scoring a run in the top of the fourth, pushing the lead to 3-1.

Parker would help his own cause by driving in Ryan Wismer with a RBI single.

Wismer took over for Parker in the fifth. Parker finished the game with seven strikeouts.

Both team were kept off the board in the fifth but Tecumseh scored three runs in the sixth and nine runs in the seven.

“We just fell apart,” said Wismer, who finished the game two-for-three and three stolen bases. “We couldn’t make any plays in the field.“

Sloppy field play continues to be a problem for the Bantams, however since the beginning of the season the young squad hasn’t been able to practice fielding, only batting. Meloche said he doesn’t want to use that as an excuse for poor play.

“There are no excuses, these guys have a lot of experience,” said Meloche. “A lot of these guys have been playing travel ball since mosquito.”

Meloche added the coaching staff realize that the players are still young and according to their skipper they could “lose them” if they’re “not right” with them during this season.

Meloche admit it is hard to have fun when the kids are getting blown out but is confident the Bantams will turn things around.

“Things will change and we will win. We just got beat by a better team, that’s all it was,” he said.